Process for forming separable bar of detergent and resulting product



J. W. BODMAN EI'AL May 28, 1946 PROCESS FOR FORMING SEPARABLE BAR OFDETERGENT AND RESULTING PRODUCT Filed Feb. 10, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1FIG. 3.

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ATTORNEYS Patented May 28, 1946 UNITED STATES PROCESS FOR FORMINGSEPARABLE BAR OF DETERGENT'AND RESULTING PRODUCT John W. Bodman,Winchester, and Fred Forrest Pease, Squantum, Mass, assignors to LeverBrothers Company, a corporation of Maine Application February 10, 1943,Serial No. 475,432

11 Claims.

This invention relates to the forming of a weakened or cleavage zone orplane in a detergent mass such as soap, to facilitate the subdivision ofthe mass into a plurality of smaller units. More particularly, theinvention is concerned with a cake of such a detergent having a weakenedor cleavage zone or plane permitting the cake to be broken at such zoneor plane with relative ease and without the formation of unsightly roughsurfaces in the break.

It is known that framed soaps for household use, for example, have beencustomarily molded and sold in relatively large cakes and are often cutor broken into more convenient sizes when used. Thesame method may beused, although it is less commonly applied, in the case of other soapssuch as milled soaps. In order to facilitate this sub-dividing of thecake it has been a common practice to s re or notch the cake duringmolding to ma'ii timmmd be broken and to facilitate the subdividing to asmall extent. This practice has proven unsatisfactory for severalreasons. The resulting fracture usually fails to follow the score marksand results in an uneven break so that the resulting subdivided cakesare irregular in size and shape. Also the broken portions of the barhave unattractive rough fractured surfaces which collect dirt and whichare harsh to the touch. In many instances, particularly where soaps havebecome dry and hardened with age or are initially hard due to the methodby which they are formed, the cakes cannot be broken into two parts bythe user, at least without considerable effort, even though the cake hasbeen notched or scored to indicate the place where it is to be broken.

In our copending application Serial No. 348,008, filed July 27, 1940(which matured as Patent No. 2,310,931 on February 16, 1943), and ofwhich this application is a continuation-in-part, we have described aprocess in which a detergent mass, such as soap, may be treated along aplane or zone passing through it such that a weakened zone or cleavageplane is formed permitting a clean even break and one which is effectedwith relative ease. This is accomplished by movement of the said massrelative to a treating surface and it is thought that this apparentlyacts to modify the crystalline fibers or other texture of the mass insuch a manner as to cause a zone of weakness or cleavage in thedetergent.

In accordance with the invention described in this application aweakened or cleavage zone or plane may be accomplished at least in partby the introduction into said zone of a material which is dissimilar tothe detergent and which interferes with the cohesion of the detergent atthe spaces occupied by said material so as to permit ready cleavage inthe zone or plane in which said material is introduced.

The material introduced to form the weakened or cleavage zone will bereferred to hereinafter as a dissimilar material and will be describedmore fully later.

The invention will be described as applied to soap, but it may beapplied to other detergents as defined hereinafter.

The dissimilar material may be continuously or discontinuously spaced inthe cleavage zone or plane in the soap cake, and the character of thedissimilar material may be varied depending upon the manner ofintroduction and the ease of cleavage desired. If the dissimilarmaterial extends continuously throughout the zone or plane, it should beof such a character as to permit a partial bonding, fusing or uniting ofthe soap to such an extent that the cake may be handled in the usualmanner without separation in the zone or plane; but the soap shouldcohere less firmly in the zone or plane because of the presence of thedissimilar material so that upon the application of the breaking force,the soap mass will be severed in the cleavage zone or plane.Alternatively the dissimilar material may act as a mild adhesive whichunites the partially or completely separated soap masses at the cleavageplane or zone.

If, on the other hand, the dissimilar material is discontinuous in thecleavage zone or plane,

it may permit the soap to be partially united as described above, or itmay go so far as to prevent any uniting of the soap in the discontinuousareas occupied by the dissimilar material. In this latter instance thesoap will be secured as a single cake by reason only of the cohering ofthe soap in the discontinuous portions of the cake not occupied by thedissimilar material. In the case of certain dissimilar materials, whichmay evaporate or otherwise leave the cake, the weakened zone may becaused by the mere lack of cohesion at the designated areas.

Our invention may be practiced with respect to a soap or other detergentmass in such a manner that a partitioning plane or weakening zone in noway detracts from the appearance of the cake.

The invention may be understood in connection with the followingdescription and thedrawings forming a part of this specification, and inwhich:

Figure 1 is a perspective of one form of a portion of an apparatus forcarrying out the invention;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic indication including a cross section of theapparatus showing the flow of a detergent mass therethrough;

Figure 3 is a cross section taken on line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a bar issuing 0 from the apparatusillustrated in Figure 1 and showing the weakened or cleavage zone orplane and lines at which the bar is cut into soap cakes;

Figna 5 is a perspective view of a cake of soap having its display faceupwards and made in accordance with the invention and susceptible forpartitioning in accordance with the invention;

Figure 6 is a vertical elevation partially in cross section,illustrating another apparatus for applying the weakened or cleavagezone in a bar of 1 Figure '7 is a section taken on line 1-1 of Figure 6;and

Figure 8 is a view in perspective of another form of the apparatus forpracticing the invention.

The mass of soap or detergent to be treated may be discharged directlyinto a conduit I illustrated in Fig. l. The conduit may be of any crosssection, but it is usually related to the size of the cake of soap to beformed. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5,the shape and size of the conduit I0 corresponds to the display face aof the soap cake as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In the conduit III ispositioned a. vane II which temporarily divides the stream of soap as itpasses through the conduit III. The vane II is illustrated as of astreamlined type to turbulence in the flowing soap. The vane I I isprovided with a number 01 small orifices 12 located on one or both sidesthereof, through which orifices the dissimilar material referred toheretofore may be ejected. This may be accomplished by means of pipe I3and I4 and suitably controlled valves I5 and I6 together with pumps orother apparatus for controlling the pressure, rate of flow, and theamount of the dissimilar material ejected. After the soap mass passesthe vane II it reforms into a single stream as illustrated by the arrowsin Fig. 2.

If the orifices I2 are so positioned as to impart a continuous film orlayer of the dissimilar material upon one or both sides of the dividedsoap stream, the soap will be rebonded with the layer of dissimilarmaterial in between. In this instance the dissimilar material may act asan adhesive uniting the two halves of the soap stream, or as aningredient for minimizing the natural cohesion of the soap uponreuniting.

If the openings I2 in the vane are spaced further apart in a verticaldirection, the dissimilar material may be applied as a plurality oflines or stripes, so that the dissimilar material is discontinuous overthe area of the cleavage zone or plane. The portions of the opposedfaces of the divided soap stream to which the dissimilar material is notapplied will rebond or coalesce. However, the crystalline fiber ortexture of the soap in these portions, as well as in all portions in thezone to the same or to a lesser extent, may be arranged also in themanner described in our copending application referred to heretofore.

After the soap passes the vane II and exits from the conduit Ill it maybe further formed, molded, shaped or otherwise treated. The soap,however, preferably should be further treated so that there is a minimumof disturbance to the cleavage zone or plane. After solidification, thesoap bar will have a plane or zone as indicated at H in Fig. 4 in whichthere exists a weakened structure relative to the general mass of thesoap bar, and coinciding with the plane along which the soap mass wasdivided by the vane II. The bar may be out along lines I8 of Fig. 4 toform a plurality of cakes of the desired thickness, as hown in Fig. 5.The weakened zone in the cake as illustrated in Fig. 5 permits thepartitioning of the cake with relative ease and with a clean smoothbreak. The vane 11 should be positioned in the conduit ID in such a wayas to be effective to form the partitioned plane in the desired positionin the final product. This position of the vane would of course dependupon the number and manner of units into which the finished cake is tobe separated.

The vane I I need not extend through the entire mass under treatment,such as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, but may extend in from the outersurfaces of the conduit I0, and may be supported in the middle of thestream so that the weakening plane does not extend out to the edges ofthe bar. Also, the vane may be adjusted and shaped suitably fordifferent thicknesses of the stream and different positions within thestream. These variations in the position and form of vane are dependentin part upon the extent or type of partitioning or weakening that isdesired in the final product and to permit suitable adjustment for thecharacteristics of the stream, such as, for example, viscosity orplasticity of the soap, the rate of flow, temperature, composition andother factors. If desired, more than one vane may be used, for example,a series of vanes may be positioned one after the other in the stream.Also, two or more vanes may be positioned across the stream so as toform in the soap under treatment two or more weakening or partitioningplanes.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 the cross sectional shapeof the conduit I0 corresponds to the size of the display face a of thesoap cake. Alternatively, the shape of the conduit It] may correspondwith the side of the soap cake as illustrated at b in Figs. 4 and 5. Thevane would be similarly positioned in the conduit, but the continuousbar would be cut at distances corresponding to the width of the soapcake rather than its thickness.

When the soap cake is formed in a conduit or ejected from a formingapparatus so that the continuously moving soap bar has a cross sectioncorresponding to the end of the soap cake, as shown at c of Figs. 4 and5, the weakened zone cannot be accomplished by means of a vane asdescribed heretofore if the zone is to be positioned as described. Amethod in which the partitioning plane or zone may be incorporated intosoap of this type is illustrated in Figs. 6 to 8.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 6 a conventional soap plodder ormixing or agitating device for forming the soap is illustrated at 20 andthe soap bar 2| issued therefrom continuously with a cross sectioncorresponding to the end of the bar (face a in Fig. 5). The cleavageplane or zone may be imparted by means of a plurality of hollowneedle-like members 22 which are moved into soap bar, and while sopositioned in the soap, the dissimilar material may be ejected fromorifices 23 contained in the hollow needles. An apparatus foraccomplishing this is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 6 in whichthe needles are supported on a movable member 24 which is operated by acam 25 to move the needles synchronously with the continuous movement ofthe soap bar while the needles are being inserted and withdrawn. Theneedles are lowered by means of an eccentric crank 26 which forces thedissimilar material through openings 21 in the upper end of the hollowneedles. The material not entering the needles may be absorbed in anexpansion chamber 28 so as to have substantially constant force appliedto eject the dissimilar material through the openings 23. The dissimilarmaterial may be delivered from a supply tank 29 through a conduit 30 anda check valve 3|. The soap as it moves forward is positioned on aconveyor 32 which supports the cakes that are obtained by cutting thebar at the lines 34. The partition zones are indicated at 33.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 6 and '7, the soap ejected from theplodder or mixer is shape retaining at the time the dissimilar materialis ejected into the cleavage zone or plane, and any holes remainingafter the removal of the needles may be finally eliminated when the soapis pressed in a conventional soap press.

Fig. 8 shows an additional embodiment in which the partition zone may beapplied to a mass of soap exiting through a conduit 40 having a shapecorresponding to the end of the bar or cake as shown at c in Fig. 5. Ahollow blade-like member 4| may be lowered by means of crank 42 andpressed through a slot 43 in the conduit 40. As the blade is pressedinto the soap mass or while in the depressed position, the dissimilarmaterial may be ejected from the openings 44. The dissimilar materialmay be applied through a flexible hose 45, and a valve 46 may beoperated by hand or automatically for controlling the time and theamount of the dissimilar material to be ejected.

Ordinarily the mass to be treated should be in a heated, plastic orsemi-fluid condition, that is, it should be at a sufficiently hightemperature so that under the pressure conditions prevailing at thetime, it will be a reunited, rebonded or coalesced mass to the extentthat this is permitted by the introduction of the dissimilar materialand any orientation of crystalline or fibrous texture of the soap.

The mass, of course, may be in an aerated condition and the final barformed may have a specific gravity of less than 1 and so will float inwater.

The strength of the rebonding in the zone is controllable not only bythe amount and nature of the dissimilar material, and the areas in thezone to which it is applied, but also by means of the condition of thesoap at the time the zone is formed. If the material is in a heated,plastic or semi-fluid condition, a relatively strong bond will result.

For a sodium soap of a fat composition of about 80 parts tallow and 20parts coconut oil and about 15 to 20% moisture, a suitable temperaturerange by way of example would be between 150 or 160 F. to 190 F.although higher as well as lower temperatures may be used. As to anupper temperature limit, the soap should not be at a temperature wherethe partition zone or the dissimilar material will be lost or disturbedbecause of excessive fluidity, turbulent flow or for other reasons.Temperatures as low as 120 F. may be used providing other conditionssuch as increased pressure are present for a satisfactory uniting of thesoap material. A soap of soft fat composition or high moisture contentcould ordinarily be processed at a lower temperature than a soap havinga characterizing hard fat composition or relatively low moisturecontent.

The temperatures of the surface of the soap mass at the itme oftreatment are more critical than the temperature of the entire mass ofsoap. In view of this the dividing vane, or needles or -blade may beheated in any convenient manner so as to put the adjacent soap mass in asuitable condition for treatment. The dissimilar material may beintroduced in the form of a heated vapor or steam may be introduced withit for the purpose of heating the surfaces if the mass of soap is not ofa sufllciently high temperature to cause adequate bonding. Thedissimilar material may be a heated liquid and may be continuouslycirculated for the purpose of maintaining it at the desired temperature.

The soap mass under treatment need not be a divided stream but maycomprise two separate streams and either one or both of the surfaces tobe bonded may be treated with a suitable dissimilar material prior to orsubstantially at the point of bonding. The separate soap streams ortheir critical surfaces would be put or maintained in a condition forbonding as already described.

The dissimilar material is not critical and the invention is not limitedto the selection of any particular material for this purpose, except, asexplained heretofore, that the selected material is dissimilar to thedetergent or the soap of which the cake is formed and that the selectedmaterial also has the effect of weakenin the cake in the partitionplane. A wide variety of materials may be used, for example, any saltsolution, suitable gases, mineral or vegetable oils, acids, such asacetic or sulfuric acid, fatty acids, alcohols, glycerine, alone or inadmixture with salt solutions and acids. Substantially any materialwhich is dissimilar to the soap or other detergent may be used,particularly those which are not volatile soap solvents, which decreasesthe cohesion of the soap material. A selection of the material willdepend upon the type of detergent mass treated, conditions 01' the soapas to temperature, pressure, and the amount and position of thedissimilar material el'ected into the zone, etc.

If desired, a further weakening of the partition zone may beaccomplished by cutting the edges of the cake at the cleavage zone bymeans of thin knives. After this the cake may be pressed, molded, orstamped in such a way as to render invisible the narrow supplementaryslits.

We have described our invention primarily in connection with soap, butit is applicable to other detergent substances that may be placed incake form. The detergent compositions may include, for example, theanimal or vegetable fatty acid soaps as described heretofore and theso-called non-soap detergents such as the Igepon, Gardinol and Nacconaltypes derived "from vegetable and mineral sources or admixtures of thenon-soap detergents and soap as well as other non-soap detergents havingsimilar characteristics. Various compositions or blends of soaps anddetergents may be used including potassium as well as sodium soaps inadmixture with soaps derived from organic bases and mixtures of any ofthese with the non-soap detergent type dependent upon thecharacteristics desired in the final product and the factors involved incosts and manufacturing conditions. Aerated as well as non-aerated soapsmay be utilized as well as soap of the so-called framed and milled typesand other types of soaps made by agitating soap or other detergent ofany moisture content at any temperature at which it is in a conditionfor treatment as described.

It will be appreciated that our invention is capable of many variationsand specific modes of application depending upon the establishedmanufacturing techniques and it is intended that all of the same are tobe included as falling within the following claims.

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We claim:

1. A method of treating a detergent selected from e group consisting ofsoap and non-soap t e detergents to facilitate partitioning thereof,which comprises dividing at least a portion of a mass of said detergentalong a plane thereof while in a heated plastic to semi-fluid condition,contacting only-a portion of at least one of the divided surfaces with amaterial dissimilar to the detergent being treated and capable ofreducing the natural cohesion of the detergent mass, and reuniting saidsurfaces of said separated portions, and forming the mass into cakescontaining said reunited surfaces.

2. A method of treating soap to facilitate partitioning thereof, whichcomprises dividing at least a portion of a mass of soap along a planethereof while in a heated plastic to semi-fluid condition, applying toonly a portion of the divided surfaces a material dissimilar to the soapbeing treated and capable of reducing the natural cohesion of the soap,reuniting the separated portions, and hardening the soap.

3. A method of treating a detergent selected from the group consistingof soap and non-soap type detergents, which comprises introducing into amass of the detergent in discontinuous areas along a predetermined planetherein a material dissimilar to the detergent being treated to reducethe cohesion of the detergent in said plane, whereby a bar or cake ofthe detergent made from the soap so treated may be partitioned alongsaid plane.

4. A method of treating soap, which comprises introducing into a mass ofsoap in discontinuous areas along a predetermined plane therein amaterial dissimilar to the soap being treated and capable of reducingthe cohesion of the soap, whereby a cake or bar of soap made from thesoap so treated may be more readily partitioned.

along said plane.

'5. A method of treating a detergent selected from the group consistingof soap and non-soap type detergents to facilitate subsequent separationthereof in a solid state, comprising providing a continuous flow of amass of the detergent in a deformable condition, obstructing the flowalong a predetermined plane in the detergent mass to cause division ofat least a portion of the flow into separate streams, and injecting anagent over at least one of the divided surfaces of the separated streamscapable of reducing the natural cohesion of the detergent mass,reuniting the said streams with a minimum of turbulency, and hardeningthe detergent.

6. A method of treating soap to facilitate subsequent separation thereofin a solid state, comprising providing a continuous flow of a mass ofsoap in a plastic to semi-fluid condition, frictionally obstructing theflow along a predetermined plane in the soap mass to cause division ofat least a portion of the flow into separate streams. subjecting thesurfaces of said stream to frictional contact and injecting a materialdissimilar to the soap being treated and capable of reducing the naturalcohesion of the soap mass over at least a portion of the surface of atleast one of the separated streams, reuniting the said stream with aminimum of turbulency, and hardening the soap.

7. A method of treating a detergent selected from the group consistingof soap and non-soap type detergents to facilitate partitioning thereof,which comprises providing a moving stream of said detergent in a heatedplastic to semi-fluid condition, causing the detergent to flow past animmovable member for dividing said mass, applying to at least one of thedivided surfaces a material dissimilar to the detergent being treated,reuniting the divided surfaces to form a bar having a partition zonetherein, and forming the bar into cakes.

8. A method of treating soap to facilitate partitioning thereof whichcomprises providing a moving stream of soap in a heated plastic tosemi-fluid condition, causing the soap to flow past a perforatedimmovable member for dividing said soap, forcing a dissimilar materialthrough said perforation to contact at least one of the dividedsurfaces, reuniting the divided surfaces to form a bar having saidmaterial in a planar zone therein, and forming the bar into cakes.

9. A method of treating soap to facilitate partitioning thereof whichcomprises dividing a moving stream of said soap in a heated plastic tosemi-fluid condition and causing the opposed surfaces to flow past aperforated immovable member, applying a dissimilar material through saidperforations to contact both of the divided surfaces, reuniting thedivided surfaces to form a bar having a planar partition zone therein,formill ing the bar into cakes, placing notches or cuts in the cakes ata point corresponding to the partition zone, and subsequently pressingthe cakes to close the cuts and render them substantially invisible.

10. A bar of detergent selected from the group consisting of soap andnon-soap type of detergents having distributed discontinuously in aplanar zone in said bar a material dissimilar to the detergent andcapable of reducing the natural cohesion of the detergent, whereby saidbar may be readily partitioned in a plane in said zone.

11. A cake of soap having distributed discontinuously substantiallythroughout a planar zone in said cake a material dissimilar to soap andcapable of reducing the natural cohesion of the soap, whereby said cakemay be readily partitioned in a plane in said zone.

JOHN W. BODMAN. FRED FORREST PEASE.

